Certainty
by CeleryLapel
Summary: Post-S6. Jeff and Annie are dating. They haven't yet told his mother.
1. Doreen

**Certainty**

Summary: Post-S6. Jeff and Annie are dating. They haven't yet told his mother.

 **Chapter One: Doreen**

Summary: Annie meets Jeff's mom

After some initial skittishness regarding the status of their relationship following Annie's return from her FBI internship, Jeff and Annie had decided to try dating. They attempted to keep the whole thing from the group, defined these days as including the original living study group members, the Dean, Frankie, Elroy, Chang, and hell the entirety of GCC. They rationalized this decision, agreeing they didn't want any judgment or pressure to make things work (or not work if Annie had any suspicions of Frankie or Shirley's opinions on the matter. She didn't concern herself with the Dean.). Of course the group figured it all out within a month. Surprisingly, no one tried to interfere and no one gave any _um hms_. It was almost as if everyone had discussed the matter and decided this was the most logical next step in the Community College Chronicles.

They went to a couple private lunches, quickly progressed things to a few cozy dinners, and moved on to more intimate encounters within the time span of two months. Although Jeff was not one to normally hold back on _the sexy times_ , he hadn't wanted to mess things up with Annie. Turns out he needn't have worried, as Annie had been eager to explore this frontier with him and had been pushing for it sooner than he would have expected. But then again, Annie Edison was always full of surprises. Once they were _intimate_ , they both found they couldn't keep their hands off each other. The entire pent up longing and hesitation had been released, and they were quickly discovering they hadn't needed to be too concerned about it. They were remarkably sexually compatible, which added a whole other dimension to their already solid friendship.

Jeff didn't know what to make of any of it except for the fact that he was happy. And he was pretty sure he had never been this happy. He questioned if it could be this easy.

Annie Edison was his friend.

Annie Edison was also now his _girlfriend_ (yes, they were now using those labels, and it didn't seem weird).

Annie Edison, six months into their _relationship_ \- which they defined as starting immediately upon her return from the FBI - was also now practically living with him. Maybe not _technically_ living with him, but she was sleeping over five-six nights a week. He was toying with the idea of actually suggesting she move in. He peeked into his closet, noting that half of it was now filled with assorted purple and teal sweaters, skirts, and demure dark navy blazers. He shrugged to himself, surprised again that none of it bothered him. His face blushed when he thought about they moment two months ago when he gave her a key, and his heart did this weird thumping thing when he thought about meeting up with her after work and them riding home together.

Annie Edison was amazing.

The only thing missing was him telling the second most important woman in his life. But given that he had never introduced a girlfriend to his mother before, that would be a huge thing. So he was feeling pretty okay with putting it off.

He didn't see his mother that much anyway.

It wouldn't take much to keep it from her.

He'd wait until he knew _for sure_ things would work out.

It could definitely wait.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Annie snuggled into Jeff's side, the covers tucked demurely underneath her arms.

"Have I ever mentioned I love your sheets? They're amazingly soft."

As he caressed her hair, he said, "Maybe a few times. I'm starting to suspect it's the reason you keep sleeping over."

She lifted her head and squinted at him in mock annoyance. "It's _one_ reason." Widening her eyes, she scooted up and swung her leg over his. As she fluttered her eyelashes, she said, "Maybe we can get back to the _main_ reason."

He gasped as she let the sheet fall and straddled him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After round two they were hungry. Jeff called in a pizza order, figuring it was an easy way to keep Annie happy. He didn't normally eat carbs, but he knew better than to mess with a famished Annie Edison. And she really liked pizza. He made a mental note to go to the gym tomorrow.

He watched as Annie pulled on her dark purple fuzzy sweater, the one she'd wear on these cold early spring weekends.

"Why the rush, milady?"

She lightly swatted his leg as she stood. "Someone has to get the pizza."

"Oh, I'm sure we have like ten more minutes until the delivery guy arrives. Maybe even twenty if it's that stoner Britta's still going on about."

Annie rolled her eyes as she stepped into her black leggings. "Someone has to not be naked."

"That's a shame."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Exactly eight minutes later, there was a knock at the door. Annie raised her eyebrows at Jeff, wriggling out of his grasp. "I told you. We don't have enough time for _this_."

Jeff let out a groan.

She quickly threw on her sweater and sprung to her feet. "Get dressed and join me in the living room."

Jeff fell back on the bed. "Fine."

Annie smiled in satisfaction and practically skipped out of the room. She made her way to the front door, grabbing Jeff's wallet, which lay on the side table. She opened the door to see a petite grey-haired woman wearing a camel-colored wool coat. The woman was smiling, but her expression quickly morphed into one of confusion.

Annie squeaked, "Oh!"

Almost simultaneously, the woman said, "Oh!"

The last exclamation was immediately followed by a not-so-subtle look over, the expression on the woman's face being one of incredulity rather than judgment. Eventually she sputtered, "I'm so sorry. I'm here to see Jeffrey."

Annie quickly did mental calculations.

 _Neighbor? Then why is she wearing a coat? Maybe she's going out or just getting home?_

 _Jeffrey? Formal. Motherly?_

 _Mother?_

 _Oh god._

She plastered on a wide grin. "Oh, um, of course. He's here. I didn't know he was expecting anyone. I'm Annie. And you are….?"

The woman tilted her head, a bemused smile forming. "I'm his mother."

 _Mother. Yup._

 _Oh god._

Annie gave the air a swat as she managed to say in her most breezy tone, "His mother? Oh, wow. I'm so sorry. Please, come in." She managed to step back, motioning the woman inside.

The woman nodded and followed her, turning to Annie as the door closed behind her. "Annie is it? I'm Doreen. Very nice to meet you."

Annie accepted the handshake, aware her palms were sweating which she was sure did not go unnoticed. "Nice to meet you, too. May I take your coat?"

"Why thank you, dear. That would be wonderful."

As Annie hung up Doreen's coat in the front closet, Doreen said, "I'm so sorry to stop by like this, but my car had a little bit of trouble, and I needed to have it towed. I asked them to drop me off here so that I could wait while they fixed it. I tried to call but Jeffrey wasn't answering his phone."

Annie smiled as she shut the closet door. "Oh, it's not a problem. I'm sure he'll be excited to see you."

"It's so nice to meet a friend of his. He usually doesn't introduce me to his friends."

Annie stilled for a moment before turning back around to face her with resolve. "So he hasn't mentioned me?"

Doreen smiled tightly. "It doesn't matter, does it? Now we've met."

Annie took a moment to take in the sight of Doreen Winger, noticing the meticulous presentation of casual yet stylish medium-brown pants, pressed white dress shirt, and ruby red blazer. She wondered if she was in real estate.

 _We've never talked about his mother. He just mentioned she lives an hour away._

 _Why haven't I ever asked about her_?

Annie reflected on the fact that despite the easiness of their relationship thus far, she had been uncomfortable. She had likely subconsciously avoided asking him about his family for fear of disrupting their rhythm. After all, she knew a few things, all bad, about his father. She knew he talked to his mom and saw her on some holidays. But she didn't really know anything else about her. She hadn't asked.

Then again, he hadn't told her.

Annie felt her feet rooted to the spot. She said sheepishly, "I thought you were the pizza delivery guy."

Doreen nodded in comprehension. "I figured something like that." At seeing Annie's face begin to fall, she quickly added, "Oh please, let's not make this anymore awkward than it is. Are you dating my son?"

"Yes!" came the squeaked reply.

Doreen appeared to chuckle to herself for a few moments, her hand half covering her mouth. "Well, um, good. Where is he?"

Annie found herself relaxing slightly, reacting to Doreen's directness and apparent bemusement. She motioned for her to follow her into the living room. As they approached the couch, Doreen glanced around, noticing the array of colorful throw pillows.

Her eyes went to the light purple curtains as she remarked, "Now I haven't been here in quite awhile, but this looks different. Not nearly as drab. Do you live here with my son?"

Annie picked up a pillow and began fluffing it, perhaps with a little too much intensity. "Live here? No! Of course not! We're just dating, I mean sure, we've been friends for a long time, _years actually,_ but then things changed. And yes, things are going really, really well, but _live together_ , that would _crazy_!"

Doreen's eyes twinkled as she watched Annie continue to smack the pillow. Stepping forward, she carefully placed her hand on Annie's arm. As Annie froze, she took the pillow from her and placed it carefully back on the couch.

"I see. So you two have some things to clarify then?"

Annie's eyes went wide as they both faced each other for what seemed like an eternity.

The moment was broken by the sound of Jeff's footsteps as he strutted from the bedroom to the living room. "Let's get this pizza party started so that we can get back to working up another appetite. I'd like to go for round three…"

Looks of horror instantly fell over all three of their faces as they all became acutely aware that Jeff was only wearing his dark grey microfiber Hanro boxer briefs.

"Mom?!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was insane. His mother was standing in his apartment. With Annie.

 _And I'm practically naked_.

 _Oh god, did I just say something about round three?_

 _Crap. Like she hasn't already figured everything out._

He cringed, turned, and jogged back into the bedroom.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Annie closed her eyes and let out a squeak.

Doreen had already turned away and walked over to the window. "My, you have birds on the windowsill. Did you know that? Sparrows."

"Um, yeah."

"Sparrows are lovely."

"Can I um, get you something to drink? I was going to make hot tea. Jeff doesn't drink it, but I like it. Hibiscus chamomile?"

Doreen turned around to face her, a polite smile on her face. "That sounds wonderful, dear. Thank you."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Two minutes later, Jeff was back.

This time he was safely clad in jeans and a GCC hooded sweatshirt Annie had bought him as a joke. Or at least he assumed it had been a joke. He may have worn it a few times but that was merely so that they could both laugh about it. He didn't find the surprisingly plush interior to be alluring at all.

Stuffing his hands in the pockets, he cleared his throat.

Doreen's head snapped up from her spot on the couch where she was flipping through a skiing magazine. Her face lit up and she sprung to her feet. "Oh, Jeffrey, it's so good to see you!"

"Yeah." He stepped closer to her, and she moved to meet him, pulling him into a firm hug. He noticed she lingered on it slightly longer than usual.

She whispered into his ear, "She's lovely. Good job."

As they pulled out of the embrace, he moved his hands back into the pockets of the hoodie and looked up at the ceiling. "I'm sorry about, um, that a minute ago."

Doreen shook her head. "Well, it is your home. I'm glad you're comfortable." She yanked on the tie coming down for the hoodie to get his attention. As he looked back down at her, she said, "I'm sorry I dropped by unannounced, but my car broke down and I didn't know what to do. I tried to call you."

He raised his eyebrows. "Are you okay?"

"Yes. I got a tow, but I need somewhere to wait it out. But if I'm interrupting something, I'm sure I can find someplace else. I thought I saw a nice little coffee shop down the street…"

With a roll of the eyes, he interjected, "Don't be ridiculous. Of course you can wait here. We were waiting on pizza."

She nodded with a nervous smile. "Thank you." Casting a glance in the direction of the kitchen, she said in a lowered voice, "Annie's making us tea. Why didn't you tell me about her?"

He shrugged as they both sat down on the couch. After a prolonged sigh, he said, "I just... look, we don't usually discuss stuff like this. It would be kind of a big deal if I were to introduce you guys. I didn't want you to get the wrong impression."

There was a crashing sound from the hallway as the teacup hit the floor.


	2. Communication

**Chapter Two: Communication**

Summary: Jeff and Annie clear up a few things

"Impression?!" Annie hissed as she and Jeff worked on cleaning up the mess from the teacup. Doreen had scuttled into the kitchen to grab more paper towels.

He glanced up at her frantically. "I didn't mean….look, crap, I don't know what I meant!"

Annie nodded vigorously. "Don't worry. I get it. Perfectly clear."

"Um, what's clear?"

A fake Annie-grin greeted him in response.

"Annie."

She squeaked out, "What?"

His eyes grew wide. He felt his body tense, his heart pounding, aware he had just made the biggest of screwups.

 _Clusterfuck actually_.

He managed to get out, "You know I love you."

She said through her still freakish smile, "I love you too."

They were interrupted by a knock at the door.

It did not escape his notice as she turned to stand that she wiped a tear from her eye. He felt something wrench in his chest. Closing his eyes, he silently berated himself for his stupidity.

Doreen returned to help Jeff clean up the ceramic pieces while Annie accepted the pizza from the stoned deliveryman. Doreen cast a concerned look back and forth between them, aware that anyone would be blinded by the white of Annie's artificial grin. Jeff motioned his mom into the dine-in kitchen and asked her to take a seat.

As Annie arranged the pizza on the table, she said nonchalantly, "You know what, I just realized I told Britta I'd see her this afternoon. She needed my help in picking out an outfit for her date."

Jeff's eyes shot over to her as he was in the process of sitting down. "You're leaving?"

Avoiding his gaze, she said chirpily, "Yes. I really feel so silly I forgot about the whole thing." She turned to his mother and said, "Doreen, it was very nice to meet you."

Doreen started to rise but Annie shook her head and motioned for her to sit.

Extending her hand, Doreen said, "It's been a pleasure, dear. I hope we'll see each other again very soon."

She caught Annie's quick glance at Jeff followed by a frown.

In response, Annie mumbled, "Um, yes. Maybe." She turned to go, but Jeff was already on his feet, his hand on her shoulder.

He leaned down and said, "Can I talk to you for a sec?"

She smiled tightly and nodded before she called out, "Bye, Doreen."

"Goodbye, dear."

Jeff took Annie's hand and gently but firmly pulled her into the living room. She looked up at him.

 _Crap. Her eyes are really sad._

"Annie, I'm sorry."

"It's okay." She sniffed.

"Don't go."

She glanced past him toward the kitchen. "I'll come back later. This is too weird."

"Please stay and have pizza with us. I ordered it for you."

He frowned as he watched her begin to silently laugh. He arched his brow.

She swatted his shoulder as she continued to seem amused by something. "We never expected it to be like this, did we?"

"Hm?"

Abruptly stopping her chuckle, she sighed. "Like _this_." She gestured her hands out at her sides. "We're playing _house_ , Jeff. And it's been really fun."

"Wait…past tense?"

She opened her eyes wide and tilted her head. Placing her hands in his hoodie pockets, she pulled him a step closer to her and said in a lower voice, "We moved too fast."

"Again…past tense?"

"We need to slow this down."

He gulped, "You err… you want to slow it down?"

She hesitated for a moment before she nodded.

For one of the first times in his life, Jeff Winger did now know what to say. He barely felt it as she gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek. He watched her grab her jacket and walk out the door.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Go after her."

Jeff had re-joined his mother at the kitchen table and was staring at his pizza. He lifted his head and looked at her, a dazed expression on his face. "Hm?"

Doreen placed her elbows on the table and clasped her hands underneath her chin. Looking at him intently, she said, "Your eyes are red. Have you been crying?"

He immediately resumed studying his pizza. "Nah."

"Let me guess. She overheard us."

He closed his eyes and nodded, his lips pursing in frustration.

"Clearly you're upset. Go find her and explain things to her."

"Explain what?"

"That you didn't mean it. That you care about her."

Jeff sighed and opened his eyes. Scooting back his chair, he leaned back and regarded his mother with a steel gaze. "I already did that. She says she wants us to _slow things down_."

"Well, you know she doesn't mean that, right? My guess would be quite the opposite."

He crossed his arms over his chest. "Really? She's the one who left."

"She's just trying to avoid getting hurt. She thinks you don't want to get serious with her."

He groaned.

She continued in an even tone, "But clearly that's not the case. My god, the girl's practically living here. And up until recently _when you've been avoiding me again_ , I stop by enough to know that you're normally living like a modern Spartan, although tastefully decorated. But still."

She cleared her throat before she added, "Now at least I know why. You're in a relationship."

"Well, um, yeah. I've been busy."

"And you didn't want me to know about her."

"It's not like that. I would have eventually introduced the two of you. Once I was _sure_."

Doreen closed her eyes and winced.

He felt his chest wrenching again as he explained, "Okay, I know that sounds bad, but it's true. I introduce the two of you, and then, what if it doesn't work out with us? It's a huge risk, before which I'd have to be absolutely, _one hundred percent certain_."

"Certain of what?"

His eyes widened.

"Jeffrey?"

"Crap. I'm an idiot."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Annie carefully let herself back into the apartment. She had texted warning Jeff she'd be on her way over, making sure his mother was gone. She had spent the past few hours actually hanging out with Britta. They did manage to put together an outfit (she hadn't lied about Britta having a date), and then Annie had spilled a bunch of her insecurities and disappointments. Britta in her surprising wisdom had encouraged Annie to talk it out with Jeff. Annie had thanked her for the advice but had gracefully declined her offer of free couples counseling.

She padded into the bedroom and spied Jeff sitting on the bed, the laptop open and a studious expression on his face. She smiled nervously and said, "Hey."

She could have sworn he let out a sigh of relief as he looked up. He took a few moments to take in the sight of her.

"Hey."

He frowned when he saw the empty duffel bag she was placing on the floor near the closet.

She then walked over and carefully sat down next to him on the bed. Reaching over to take his hand, she said softly, "I'm sorry I was a little dramatic earlier, but I just thought it would be easier if you could talk to your mom alone. We both weren't prepared for a parent meeting."

He kept his eyes on their hands as he said, "You had every right to be upset. I'm sorry I was an ass about it. She just surprised me."

Giving his hand a squeeze, she said, "It's fine. Maybe it's a good thing she showed up. We've never talked about her much. She seems really nice."

"Yeah, she is."

Annie sighed. "Which is why I think I was upset. You _know_ the reason you haven't met my parents. I don't even see them. But you _do_ see your mom, and she seems pretty normal. If my parents and I had a good relationship, I would have wanted you to meet them by now."

He appeared to startle. "Really?"

She smiled sadly as she leaned over and kissed his cheek. "But I think that speaks to some differences we have. See, I thought….I mean, I _think_ this will be fine. Well, only if you want to keep going with it."

"Annie, of course. I don't want to break up."

She relaxed her shoulders as she gave his hand another squeeze. "Well, good. Then we won't."

He gulped. "But the bag?"

She cast a quick glance over at the duffel bag and then back at him, noticing the panicked look in his eyes. "Oh that? I brought that to take some of my things home. Like I said, I think we should slow things down." Taking her hand back, she laced her fingers together and played with them on her lap. "I've practically _moved in_ here, Jeff. We probably got a little too carried away. Let's go back to dating with some sleepovers, but I should really be back at my place most of the time."

She was surprised as he placed one hand over hers and used his free hand to gently guide her to face to his. Pressing his forehead against hers, he said, "I don't want to slow things down."

"We have to."

"Why?"

The tremble in her voice was evident as she explained, "Because after all of this time, after all of these years knowing each other and wondering _what if_ and now actually being together, part of me would be destroyed if we didn't work out."

Without hesitation he said, "We _will_ work out."

The words hung in the air for a several moments as they sat there, foreheads pressed against each other. Finally, Annie moved her head back and looked at him while wiping a tear from her eye.

She said, "Not if we move too fast. That's what you meant when you were talking to your mom, isn't it? That you didn't want us to meet because you weren't _all in_ this. You're not used to relationships, and that's okay. But see, I'm not wired like that. When I'm in, I'm _in_ , Jeff. So when we play house ninety percent of a week, I think we're _serious_ and I want to get even closer."

"Annie, I…"

-"And I have to be honest, it _hurts_ to know you're not there with me. I know you love me, but I..."

He stopped her with a soft kiss.

Pulling back, he said with a sense of urgency, "I love you so much, you have no idea."

"Jeff…"

-"Let me say this. Yes, you are correct that the reason I hadn't introduced you to my mom is because I wanted to be _absolutely sure_ we were going to work out before I did so. I've only had a couple actual girlfriends, and neither of them met my mom. The reason for that is I've had it in my head that I'd only ever have my mom meet the woman I was going to marry."

Annie's eyes widened as she took in what he had just said.

She stammered, "I thought you were a confirmed bachelor up until Greendale."

He let out a low laugh and then nodded. "I was. Which is why my mom doesn't meet anyone. If I'm going to put her through that and risk her getting attached, then I need to be damned sure I was attached to the lady myself. And to me, yeah I guess in some surreal universe even back before Greendale it was _marriage_. Which I never thought I would actually do, but that was before I met you, so well, now hell."

Annie furrowed her brow in thought, pondering his words before looking up to see an expectant expression on his face.

Clearing her throat, she said, "I don't know what to say. I didn't realize you had that rule in your head, Jeff. About marriage and meeting your mom being linked. It's kind of crazy."

"It is _not_." He appeared mildly irritated at her reaction.

Snapping up to a straighter posture, she said, "Then when would I actually ever meet her, Jeff? I guess maybe, one day _maybe_ we'd get to a place when you felt you'd propose? That would be when? Like ten years? And the whole time you'd be going to your mom's for Christmas or over for dinner or something, and what…I'd be hiding away from her? And would she even know you were seeing me or living with me? Because in ten years, _we will be living together_ , Jeff…"

He smirked at that last bit as she continued,

"And the whole thing's absurd! Your mom and I should know each other. We don't have to be best friends, but she and I should be at a place where we're _friendly_. You can't compartmentalize your life!"

He interjected calmly, "I don't want to anymore."

Taken aback, she relaxed her shoulders slightly and said, "Well, good. Because that would mean one day when I move it, I want to already be on good terms with your mom. To me, being in a serious relationship means all of that."

He nodded. "Agreed."

She rolled her eyes. "Well, um, okay."

He cleared his throat and then asked, "Where do you stand on the marriage thing?"

She startled for a moment and then shrugged as she began to pick at the comforter. "I'm with Jeff Winger, the man who up until a few minutes ago I assumed was a confirmed bachelor. I assumed we would just live together, which would be fine and amazing and wonderful and…"

He leaned over and gave her another soft kiss. "It would be."

"Yeah."

They smiled at each other for a few beats of silence.

He cleared his throat yet again before he asked, "So, next question, where do you stand on kids?"

She tilted her head and stared at him incredulously. At his nonverbal plea for her to respond, she squeaked, "I don't know. Maybe?"

He raised his eyes brows and waited.

"Yes. I want kids." She then quickly swatted the air, looking away as she added, "I don't meant _kids_. One would be nice. But if you don't want kids, then of course I'd be okay. You mentioned you wanted to get a dog. We could get a dog." She turned back to look at with a tentative expression on her face.

He reached over and grabbed both her hands, holding them firmly. "Annie, if you want kids then we'll have kids."

She closed her eyes. "Jeff. You can't do this. You can't…"

-"I want kids."

She opened her eyes and stared at him in disbelief.

He nodded slowly, maintaining eye contact. "I know, it sounds crazy. Jeff Winger wants kids. But I've given this a lot of thought, that whole last year before you left, I was drinking myself into a pit…"

She gave his hands a squeeze.

-"I thought I'd screwed everything up. That I was destined to be alone. That I'd lost you. And when you said you were leaving, all sorts of scenarios ran through my head. In one of them we were happy. We had a home, we had a kid."

She smiled at him as he continued,

-"And he was really cute, and you seemed happy, and then I had this panicked realization that I didn't really know what you wanted. So I pushed it all aside while we've been figuring _this_ out, and god, I have to say, it's still what I want. I mean I'd be fine with a dog too. Actually, I'd really like a dog so I hope you're okay with that too, but I want kids. Or a kid. I'm with you on that. We can see how the first one starts to turn out before we go ahead and do it again. And we'd have to make sure the kid and the dog got along."

He paused for breath to take in her reaction.

She squinted at him, a blush forming on her face as she looked down at their entwined hands. He spied a hint of a smile.

"Milady?"

She looked back up and nodded. "That sounds nice."

He let out a breath. "Great." Bobbing his head, he reached over and grabbed the laptop. Turning it to face her, he hit a key to re illuminate the screen. "See anything you like? Cause I wasn't sure about the shape. There are heart shaped ones, more traditional diamond shaped, round ones too. Then there's the whole matter of the band. White gold, silver, platinum, gold…."

She swatted his arm and gasped. "You're looking at engagement rings?!"

He turned to her and said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "Well, yeah."

Her mouth fell open as he added, "Of course I'm not going to buy it online. We can go take a look at them, or you can give me a general idea of what you like and I'll go and look at some in person. I just like to be prepared with styles and price points before I walk into a jewelers. I don't want them to rob me blind."

She muttered, "Amethyst."

"No diamond?"

She shook her head.

Keeping a serious expression, he continued to click through the pictures of various rings. "Band preference?"

By this point, Annie had collected herself enough to lightly slap his leg. He turned to her with a look of alarm.

"What's wrong?"

"You're proposing?"

His face almost went white. He stammered, "Well, um, not at this moment. I mean, I guess I kind of ruined it by asking about the ring, but given all the misunderstandings we've had in the past few hours I really wanted to be sure you'd say yes."

He looked almost pained in embarrassment.

She took a deep breath and then asked, "When were you planning to propose to me?"

He began to tap the keyboard with his index finger. "When I was _sure_. And then I was going to introduce you to my mom."

"When do you think you'll be _sure_?"

"I already am. Took me until today to realize it."

He watched as she began to laugh.

"Wait…you do want to get married, right? Cause Annie, we've known each other for years by now. We _know_. Or at least _I_ know. I was stupid for not figuring it out sooner."

She shook her head, letting her giggles subside. "It's not that. _Yes_ , of course I want us to get married. I just never thought you'd pseudo-propose to me in a Greendale hoodie."

He looked down at his ensemble for a moment before lifting his head to meet her gaze.

A gaze which was filled with affection and unconditional love.

It was reflected right back.


End file.
